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Arsenal v Manchester City (2017-18)
| next = }} Arsenal v Manchester City was a match which took place at the Emirates Stadium on 1 March 2018. Manchester City are "close" to winning the Premier League title after comprehensively beating Arsenal for the second time in five days, says manager Pep Guardiola. Goals from Bernardo Silva, David Silva and Leroy Sane at Emirates Stadium extended City's lead at the top of the table to 16 points. With 10 games remaining, they need five victories to secure the title. "It's in our hands, we can't deny it," Guardiola said. "These are the last steps to be champions. You keep going until the end." After beating the Gunners 3-0 in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, City dominated in a toxic atmosphere in a stadium featuring large areas of empty seats. Bernardo Silva opened the scoring in the 15th minute, beautifully curling in a left-footed strike into the far corner after Sane's mazy run. David Silva finished off a fine team move in the 28th minute for City's second before Sane did the same five minutes later. Arsenal had the opportunity to cut the deficit shortly after half-time but Ederson saved Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's penalty. "We played with low confidence, you could see that at the start of the game and we paid for it," Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said. "We lost to a team that is the best in the country at the moment." City's victory - in Guardiola's 100th game at the club - extended their lead over second-placed Manchester United, while Arsenal stay sixth, 10 points off the top four. City were clinical on Sunday in securing Guardiola's first trophy at the club, although Wenger suggested the game was closer than the 3-0 scoreline suggested. At the Emirates, particularly in the first half, City were at their free-flowing best and Wenger could have no complaints. Sane dribbled past four defenders for the opening goal before Bernardo Silva's accurate finish and the hosts looked helpless in attempting to prevent the following two goals. For the second, Sane, Sergio Aguero and David Silva combined brilliantly and the Spaniard calmly fired past Petr Cech. The third then came at the end of a flowing move with Kyle Walker squaring to German Sane from in behind the left side of Arsenal's defence. "Mentally we were strong. We were clinical. We scored three outstanding goals," Guardiola said. "It is never easy if you are not focused against teams like Arsenal. "We were focused and so far we have made an amazing Premier League season." Guardiola's side are 30 points clear of Arsenal and, with their 16-point lead over Manchester United restored, could win the title in a little over a month when they face their city rivals on 7 April. If they were to win the title that weekend it would be the earliest the Premier League title has ever been won. Wenger was prickly in response to questions about his Arsenal future before the game and the result and performance will have done little to silence those questions. The match was played in front of tens of thousands of empty seats in north London, surely not all as a result of the snowy weather. Many of those who did attend booed after City's third goal, at half-time, at full-time and when passes went astray, while there were ironic cheers when Cech claimed a catch at one point in the first half. Nicolas Otamendi's foul on Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave the Gunners slim hope of a comeback in the 53rd minute but the miss from the spot by record signing Aubameyang ended any chance of a contest. Arsenal have now lost seven times in 2018 and their only route back into the Champions League looks to be winning the Europa League. They have gone 10 games without a clean sheet in the Premier League, their longest run in the competition since February 2002. Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown described it as a "sad evening" for Wenger on BBC Radio 5 live, adding that the Gunners were "outplayed and outfought". There were chants of "there's only one Arsene Wenger" from the stands in the final stages but, to add to the Frenchman's misery, those appeared to come from the visiting fans. "City took advantage of our lack of confidence," Wenger said. "We're going through a difficult period, they're going through a period where all goes well for them. "When your confidence is not at the best, the first thing that goes is your fluidity in the movement, the spontaneous side of the game. "You could see that tonight. I don't deny their quality because they have top quality, but we're going through a difficult patch at the moment. That's part of football as well unfortunately." Match Details Silva Sané |stadium = Emirates Stadium, London |attendance = 58,420 |referee = Andre Marriner }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} See also *2017-18 Premier League: Match day 28 External links *Match report at BBC.co.uk Category:2017-18 Match Day info Category:Arsenal F.C. matches Category:Manchester City F.C. matches Category:2017–18 Premier League Matches